There is an old Punjabi saying - Khada Pita lahe da, Rahnda Ahmed Shahe da. ( What we eat and drink is our own; the rest will go to Ahmad Shah.) and as per government report it seems that Punjabis still believe in this.

Punjabi households are known for their "no holds barred” attitude when it comes to the love of food. They live to eat and the "Khaande peende ghar de haan” tag was probably meant for them and rightly so!

However, Punjabis' love for food is exactly what has worked against them, if a statement given by union health minister JP Nadda is anything to go by.

According to the Times of India, JP Nadda told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, that Punjabis are the most obese people in the country, while men from Tripura and women from Meghalaya are the leanest.

This statement has a tight hold since India already comes third under the 'most obese countries in the world' list and is showing a rapid growth of obesity among children and adolescents in urban areas.

Times of India further reported that according to the data presented by Nadda in Rajya Sabha, men and women from Punjab followed by Kerala and Delhi are the most obese people with 22.2, 17.8 and 16.8% of men and 29.9, 28.1 and 26.4% of women from the respective states reporting a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25.

Data also show women everywhere, except Bihar and Meghalaya, are more overweight than men. In Tripura, only 4.8% of men and 7.1% of women are obese while in Meghalaya, only 5.9% men and 5.3% women are overweight. The figures have been sourced to a 2005-06 National Family Health Survey.